Archive for February, 2012

Read here. I posted about Irvin a few weeks ago and there are reasons why he would be a gamble. But a 4.43 from a 245 pound LB? That’s crazy. That’s the kind of make-up speed that could really help not only in the pass rush, but in coverage. This guy continues to intrigue me – and there is something about his story too that makes me wonder if he’s been on TT’s radar too.

Wow. This is good news. I really wondered how committed the Pack would be to bringing Finley back. His attitude, his drops and the fact that the team carries 4-5 TEs on the roster led me to believe the Pack would be ready to let him go. My guess is that Mike McCarthy himself stepped up and demanded that the front office figure something out with Finley. McCarthy and Rodgers have both talked openly about the match-up issues Finley causes for defenses. And we all know that McCarthy’s entire offensive system is predicated on creating mismatches. So I’m guessing McCarthy talked Ted’s ear off about getting Finley re-signed at least for the near term…and Ted delivered.

In the end, I’m glad we re-signed Finley. I wasn’t so sure there for a spell last year, but the guy is a freakishly good athlete who can really help this team. Good move. I also like that we signed him to a shorter-term deal. Finley is injury-prone and the team may have some ongoing concerns about his behavior – two factors that could make signing him to a long-term deal extra risky.

This does bring up the issue then of what the Packers might do with the franchise tag. There is lots of talk of tagging Matt Flynn and then trying to trade him for a high draft pick like New England did with Matt Cassel a few years ago. I’m not in favor of doing this because it’s risky. And I also don’t see the Cassel/Flynn situations as really being the same. Cassel led NE to an 11-5 record and had an entire season’s body of work as evidence of his quality. Flynn has essentially played really well in 2 games in his career. I think there is a market for Flynn definitely, but risking getting stuck with a $14 million salary for a back-up QB just isn’t a good idea (even if it’s for just one year). Another major reason why I think the Pack will let Flynn walk is that they could get (I believe) as high as a 3rd round compensatory pick for letting him go. If this happens, my guess is that TT steps back and considers the fact that they got Flynn in the 7th round, so any compensatory pick higher than the 7th round would be OK with him.

The Packers might consider tagging Scott Wells. As I wrote the other day, I think Scott Wells’ value to our offense was finally, appropriately recognized last year by his Pro Bowl nod. The guy is a very good player and without him I think this offense would suffer. I read the other day that Don Banks at SI.com has the Packers going after center Peter Konz from the Badgers in the first round – primarily because Banks has noticed the Pack doesn’t seem to be doing anything to re-sign Wells. I think it’s possible that the Pack decides to tag Wells AND tries to draft Konz. It would be a succession-planning move of sorts. Konz could learn from Wells for a year and then Wells could get a nice contract elsewhere in 2013. In the end, I’m guessing the team would prefer to have the starting center return and the franchise tag would be an easy way to do this without having to commit to anything longer term for Wells.

Ugh. Read here from Bob McGinn. I think Scott Wells is important to this team. He is a reliable veteran who is healthy. And his age (31) doesn’t seem to be an issue considering he has gotten better each of the last 3 years as McGinn points out. He made the Pro Bowl last year. He is a good player and my hope is that the Packers can figure something out with him. I think he deserves a pretty high offer from the Packers – and I’m sure Aaron Rodgers is saying the same thing. Centers are important to teams, especially teams that get as involved in dissecting defenses at the line of scrimmage like the Packers do.

Another reason I’d like for Wells to get paid is that we should minimize the O-Line shuffling we do – especially at center. To the extent that we can control it, I think it should be a goal to return the same or a mostly similar starting O-Line next year.

The lengths Anthony Shadid went to in order to catch Packer games probably seems extraordinary to most. Of course if you’re a big-time Packer fan it may simply make sense to you. Read here from PFT. And then click here to read a piece from jsonline that Shadid wrote last year.

Either way, sad to see such a young, accomplished writer die – especially one of “us”.

Nicely done here from jsonline’s Tyler Dunne. Read up on this OLB prospect Bruce Irvin from West Virginia. While he had some impressive stats in college, the thing that clearly stands out to me is that this 6’2″, 245 pound dude apparently runs a 4.4 in the 40. (You know we’re in combine mode when 40 times are being thrown about.) For an OLB, 4.4 is unreal. This is as fast as guys like Nick Collins, and if you count his 4.37 40 time in junior college, as fast as guys like Tramon Williams. Quality coverage of TEs or even WRs might be a possibility for a guy like this. And having another relentless, super fast pass rusher opposite Mathews sounds like a dream scenario.

The second he threw that ball to nobody I yelled “safety”. I can’t believe the head official (John Parry) missed that call – he was right there. It was another official who made the call. But that was a terrible mistake by Brady. He just chucked it to nobody. Rookie mistake.

Every time I watch the Super Bowl, I ask the question: why can’t the people who make commercials just make them funny all the tim?. Why do they have to wait for the Super Bowl (to at least try)? It’s as though ad folks are relieved after the Super Bowl because they can gently slide back into an uncreative, not funny mode.

First of all, I’m having a difficult time getting excited for this game. The Packers exited in such grim fashion I’m still finding it hard to get back into football. As much as I love the NFL, and not just the Packers, after a loss like the one to the Giants, recovery has been tough.

This match up is weird to me. The Giants appear to be the sexy pick – Rodgers just took them too on the pregame. And based on my personal history of picking against the Giants and losing – all the time – you’d think I’d roll with the Giants too. But I can’t…

Key players today besides Brady will be Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead, Chad Ochocinco (yes, he will finally do something), Travis Beckum for the Giants and some dude from one of the teams on special teams.

There is just something about this match up that has me thinking Tom Brady is going to go crazy. Tom Brady is very much like Aaron Rodgers. He remembers losing – and he hates losing. That last loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl by the Pats a few years ago, didn’t sit well with Brady. As scary as the Giants are because they have been playing exceptionally well on all 3 units, I think the Pats will take this game – by a couple TDs.

The big x factor in this game will be the Pats D. If they offer even slight resistance, I think the Pats will roll. But if they can’t stop anything (which is entirely possible), they could lose.

Read here. He deserves this opportunity considering how well he’s done with QBs while in Green Bay.

Also – I’m finding myself rooting hard already for Joe Philbin in Miami. I’ll be following them carefully next year hoping he can pull off a turnaround. (And by the way, while I anticipate the Dolphins will certainly be looking at QBs, including Matt Flynn, I think they may have a better QB there already than people realize in Matt Moore. He had some downright impressive games this past year and I’d think Philbin could help him develop relatively fast.)